ZIP 66434 vs ZIP 66439

This side-by-side compares ZIP 66434 (Hiawatha, KS) and ZIP 66439 (Horton, KS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 66434 has a population of 4,828 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 66439 has 2,747 at 12 per square mile. That difference in population size and density alone reshapes how every other metric should be interpreted — a higher-income ZIP with 1,200 residents behaves very differently from one with 45,000.

On income and education, ZIP 66434 reports a median household income of $76,613 against $53,348 in ZIP 66439, with per-capita income of $40,257 vs $25,654. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.2% in 66434 and 14.0% in 66439. Poverty rate reads 10.5% vs 18.8%, and unemployment 4.5% vs 6.8% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at $143,400 in 66434 versus $90,800 in 66439, with median rent of $625 and $587 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.1% vs 63.6%. When reading the comparison table below, focus on paired metrics rather than single winners — a ZIP with lower home values and lower income is not strictly "worse" if rent-to-income ratios and commute times land in the same zone. Every value is pulled from the exact same ACS table so the two columns are genuinely comparable.